Meirelles: Brazil Prepared For Weak Global Recovery

The Wall Street Journal, 10/27/09

Bolstered by abundant foreign reserves and recent efforts to assure liquidity in local markets, Brazil will be prepared for a weaker-than-hoped-for global economic recovery should it occur, central bank President Henrique Meirelles said Tuesday.

Speaking at a seminar with fellow members of his Democratic Movement Party at Brazil’s lower house, Meirelles admitted that a “W-shaped” recovery was possible, but added that Brazil had the ammunition to face such a prospect.

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Brazil keeps economic excitement in check

Lionel Barber-Financial Times, 10/25/09

It is the kind of news that would normally spook investors: Henrique Meirelles, the governor of Brazil’s central bank, is preparing to go into politics.

The threat of political interference used to hang over Brazil’s economy like a black cloud. Yet Mr Meirelles explains with customary aplomb that by joining the centrist PMDB, Brazil’s biggest political party, he is only exploring possibilities. He may enter politics at next October’s general election, perhaps running for the senate; he may stay at the bank; or he may rejoin the private sector.

“I am merely taking an option on my future,” he tells the FT at the central bank’s offices in São Paulo.

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